Memorial da America Latina

The Memorial da América Latina by Oscar Niemeyer in São Paulo

Event hall with the sculpture Grande Flor Tropical (German: 'Large Tropical Flower'), by Franz Weissmann

The Memorial da América Latina (English: Latin America Memorial ) is a cultural, political and leisure complex in São Paulo , Brazil .

history

It was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened on March 18, 1989 by the Brazilian anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro. It serves the cultural, political, social and economic integration and emancipation of Latin America.

The Memorial is a complex composed of several buildings with sculptures and monuments, arranged around two squares and covering a total area of 84,482 m ² . The cultural part was developed by the Brazilian anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro . The Memorial is a public foundation that is financially and administratively independent, but maintained by the state government.

Fire in November 2013

On November 30, 2013, the Latin America Memorial was badly damaged by fire. The neighboring Auditorium Simón Bolívar was largely destroyed in the fire. During the three hours of extinguishing work, seven firefighters were injured with smoke gas poisoning and burns, some seriously. A spokesman for the memorial announced that the fire was probably caused by a short circuit in the auditorium lighting system.

The individual parts of the memorial

Around two large squares are arranged:

Tiradentes - the event hall ( Salão de Atos Tiradentes )
The Victor Civita Latin America Library , Center for Latin American Studies .
The Marta Traba Gallery for Latin American Art
The Pavilion for Creativity ( Pavilhão da Criatividade )
The Simón Bolívar Auditorium
The Latin America Parliament Building
On the central public square ( Praça Cívica ) there is a large, 16-meter-high concrete hand ( A Grande Mão ), which was also designed by Oscar Niemeyer. The outline of Latin America is inlaid in red in the palm of the hand. It symbolizes Latin America's past of oppression and the associated struggles for freedom, with the red map of the continent as a reminder of the blood toll paid for it .

The memorial has its own art collection that can be viewed inside and outside of buildings and squares. In the creativity pavilion (Pavilhão da Criatividade) an extensive collection of Latin American folk art is shown.

In addition to a music and picture collection, the library includes 30,000 book titles.

Conferences, concerts, lectures, and exhibitions, theater and dance performances are held in the memorial.

There is also a research department specializing in Latin American topics and an edition with regular publications. From 1989 to 2007 the memorial housed the Latin America Parliament .

Admission is free.

gallery

Bürgerplatz ( Praça Civica) with the Latin America Parliament, in front of it the hand, on the right the Tiradentes event hall
The Marta Traba Gallery
The Victor Civita Latin American Library
The Creativity Pavilion ( Pavilhão da Criatividade )
The Simón Bolívar Auditorium
The Latin American Parliament